In this update:
Small Talk
Season’s Greetings and Thank-Yous
2008 Report-back
A Ten Year Anniversary Coming Up
Exciting New Developments for 2009
Annual Price Increase
Small Talk. By now, most subscribers to this newsletter - especially those in the Southern Hemisphere - are basking in the sun or taking time out at their favourite holiday destinations. I hope you are thoroughly enjoying it! For others - like myself - this is a time of high productivity because the phones have stopped ringing and there are very few unexpected demands on our time. One is allowed to “go into the flow” without the interruptions and on some days produce more than what three (productive) people normally would. If you have been blessed - like me - with a vocation (with an o) that you thoroughly enjoy, you don’t need a vacation (with an a)… you only need some quiet!
Season’s Greetings and Thank-Yous. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a fantastic festive season and extend a huge thank you for all your support and well wishes during the year. May you have a wonderful time with your family and friends.
2008 Report-back. 2008 has been a phenomenal year for Planet GIS. This year alone, we have gained 209 new clients of which 74 purchased software licenses and we’ve added a total of 253 licensed users to our database (many of which would be old clients upgrading to version 3.0). Our free map download service has also been received with tremendous acclaim. Since we introduced the service in April, nearly 500GB of data has been downloaded. We have also gained many friends!
A Ten Year Anniversary Coming Up. On April 9th, 2009 our company turns 10 years old! The software, however, has already been under development for nearly five years when the company was incorporated in April of 1999. We’ve been through some tough times and for many years relied on consulting work to keep the ship afloat and fund the software development. Your marvellous support during 2008 meant that our 10th year had been the best one ever!
Exciting New Developments for 2009. The New Year will be a very exciting one for us. You may notice a lot of changes on our website during this month already. In January we will be launching updated online documentation (a Wiki), a development Blog and support forums. I would like to thank TGIS (www.tgis.co.za) for donating a large sum of money toward the development of a new technical manual. TGIS has been an invaluable part of our success since the early days. Thank you guys & gals from the bottom of my heart!
Annual Price Increase. We will be introducing price increases early in January. Software functionality has been snowballing and we’re adding a lot of value around the software to help you get the most out of it. Since recently purchases of software licenses, for example, include a full year of software updates, regardless of the jump in version number (eg. 3.0 to 4.0). We need to make some price adjustments to keep this ship on an even keel, especially with the roughly 14% devaluation of the South African Rand (locally) over the past year. If you have been considering purchasing software licenses, now would be a good time if you are able… 